Renewable energy already generates a third of all electricity worldwide | Science & Planet

Solar energy in particular is booming and “accelerating faster than anyone thought possible,” according to Ember, a London research center that wants to help accelerate the transition to clean energy. To illustrate the rapid development of renewable energy, the think tank points out that the cumulative solar energy capacity doubled every two years between 2000 and 2010 and doubled every three years between 2010 and 2023.

Installed solar energy capacity increased by more than 23 percent last year to 1,631 TWh, or 5.5 percent of global electricity production. Wind energy accounted for 7.8 percent of global electricity production, hydropower for 14.3 percent and bioenergy for 2.4 percent. Nuclear energy accounted for 9.1 percent, coal for 35.4 percent and gas for 22.5 percent.

The think tank estimates that the meteoric growth of renewable energy could lead to a 2 percent decline in electricity generated from fossil fuels by this year. The decline could have already occurred last year if hydroelectricity production had not sputtered over the past five years due to drought in China, India, Vietnam and Mexico.

During the COP28 climate summit in Dubai late last year, the international community set the goal of tripling the global renewable energy capacity by 2030. If successful, renewable energy will account for 60 percent of global energy production.